Improved rotary engine



Nirnn STATES trice. 1

PATENT JAMES CLAYTON AND ABRAHAM CAMPBELL, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNORS TO THEROOTS ROTARY STEAMENGINE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IM PR'OVED ROTARY ENGlN E.

Specification forming part of Letters. Patent No. 34,393, dated February11, 1862.

To aZZ whom it mag/concern: v

Be it known that we, JAMES CLAYTON and ABRAHAM CAMPBELL, both of thecity of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State ofA New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines; and we do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had .to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification, i which Figure 1 is a vertical section of anengine in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the shaft. Fig. 2 is anaxial section of the-same.

Fig. 3 represents an inner face view of the f formed between the tworings E F at either end of the cylinder for the reception of theexpanding steam-packing segments G G G* side packing between thepiston-drum and cylinder-head, partly in section. Fig. 4 is a face view,partly in section, of part of the cylinder-abutment packing. of theexpanding steam-packing segments belonging on the opposite side of the.cylinder i g c, the two forming nearly a complete ring, are

to that which is represented in Figs. l and 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate correl or other flexible metalunited at their edges sponding parts in the several ligures.

Thisinvention consists in an improved kind the said segments arefurnished with short of packing applied between the piston-drum and thecylinder-heads and to the cylindertheir respective ring E, as shown inFigs. 1

abutments, also iu an improved system of exhaustvalves and ports to beemployed in f combination with three or more pistons in l the samecylinder.

To enable others skilled in the art to make set-screws I l screwingthrough the cylinder- .f heads, and the steam acting within the segmentsG G G* G* tends to expand the said and use our invention, we willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the cylinder, boredtruly, fitted at each end with a movable head B,and iitted atzone i side with Y a packing-plate C, which constitutes anabutment, such packing-plate not projecting within the innerrcircumference of the cylinder.

D is the main shaft, working in bearings in the cylinder-heads, suchbearings being arranged eccentric to the cylinder in the direction ofthe abutment.

H is the piston-drum of cylindrical form l and concentric with the shaftD, to which it is iirmly secured, working in contact with the abutmentC, but at some distance from the opposite side of the cylinder.

' E E F F are metal packing-rings fitted between the ends of thepiston-drum andthe Fig. 5 is a section features ot' our invention.

.Cylinder-heads-one pair between each c vl- 5 inder-head and itscorresponding, end of the cylinder. The rings E E next the pistoni drumare each fitted to the interior periphery of the cylinder and totheexterior periphery 3 of a hub a on its corresponding cylinder-head,

and has grooves turned in its own exterior and interior peripheries forthe reception of vulcanized india-rubber or other packing b b, (see Fig.2,) to preventv any steam passing it from the interior of the cylinder,and the said rings have concentric rectangular grooves in their outerfaces for the reception of the rings f F F, which are fitted into thesaid grooves in such manner that an annular cavity c is Gi, whichconstitute one of the important These segments, ot' which there are twoin each annular cavity The outer rings F F are held up to their placesin the inner rings E E by means of segments laterally, and so to makethem force apart the rings E E and F F, and thereby to press the rings EE against the ends of the g drum and of the pistons, thus preventing thel' escape of steam between the latter rings and the drum and pistons.The segments G G f' G* G* are so proportioned in width in theirdifferent parts as to produce an aggregate pressure on the rings E E alittle greater than that produced on their inner sides by the steamwithin the cylinder and as to disg tribute the pressure over the severalparts of the outer sides of said rings as near as practicable tocorrespond with the pressure. of the steamV in the cylinder on theseveralparts ofthe inner sides of the said rings.

. other.

The reason for using two hollow expanding segmentsbetween each pair ofpackingrings and not a lcomplete hollow expanding ring can be betterexplained after other parts of the engine have been further described.

J J J2 are the pistons, three in number, fitted to slots in thedrum,with oscillating packing-pieces g g, and having connected with themrings h h, which t to cylindrical projections t' t' on the inner hubs ofthe two cylinder-heads, such projections being concentric with thecylinder, and consequently.V

eccentric to the shaft and piston-drum. This method of applying thepistons keeps the pistous, in their revolutions, always radial to thecylinder and in contact with the inner periphery thereof. We do not,however,

claim such method as our invention.

of the abutment, according to which direction the engine is to be run.Fig. l shows steam entering the cylinder by the port lc, and the engineto be consequently running in the direction of the arrow shown upon it.

M is a steam-jacket surrounding the cylinder except where the abutmentsand the ports 7c k are situated. This steam-jacket is always in freecommunication with the main exhaust-pipe by an opening m, and two portsn n (see Fig. l) are provided to make corn-V munication between the saidjacket and the cylinder, the center lines of said ports being at adistance apart and at a distance from the center line of the abutmentequal to one-third the circumference of the inner periphery or bore ofthe cylinder, the port fn; being for the yeductionof steam from thecylinder when induction is effected through la, and the port n being forthe eduction of steam when induction is effected through la.Cock-valvesN N are iitted to the steamjacket, one opposite each ot theports .n n', the constructionvand mode of applying the said valves beingsuch that they may open and close their respective ports without in anycase obstructing Athe passage ot' the steam round the jacket. One valveis always in position to close its port according to the direction inwhich the engine is to run. Fig. 2 shows thc port fn open and n closed.The valves N N may be so connected witlrthe valve L that all may beshifted together and so always be kept in proper relation to'each Theeduction of the steam frmthe cylinder is effected almost entirelythrough the ports n n', and the only purpose of the port Z is .for theescape of what litt-le steam may be left in front of the-pistons afterthey have passed the port n or n. The principal exhaust-ports arearranged in the positions of n n in order to permit of the expansiveforce of the steam being rendered available for the purpose of drivingthe pistons and to prevent the compression ot the steam between thepistons.

The steamafter each piston passes the port n or n acts expansively uponthe piston immediately in front of it until the two pistons areatequaldistances from the widest part of the steam-space between thecylinder and abutment, and when the'pistons arrive in this` position.the eduction from between them commences through n or n.

When the engine is running in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig.l, the hollow expanding segment G, (shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and dottedin Fig. 1,) has its oritice cl always in communication with that part ofthe steam-space of the cylinder which is between the abutment and thenearest piston, and which is consequently subject to the pressure oi"`the full head of steam, and the corresponding segment Gr has its orificec in communication with the space in which the steam is expanding, sothat the pressure produced against the outside of the ring E by theaction of the steam in the segments is nearly in proportion to thepressure of the steam against the inner face of the said ring at anypart of the cylinder. It is t0 enable this latter result to be obtainedthat we use the expanding segments and not a complete ring of expandingpacking. In order to obtain the same result in running both ways theexpanding segments at opposite ends of the cylinder have their orificesreversed. The position of the orifices Gr* and Gi, which are on the sideremoved by the section in Fig. l, is indicated in red color in thatfigure and is also shown in Fig. 5, which view is taken looking'in thesame direction as Fig. 1. By this arrangement of orifices the expandingsegments on one Vside of the piston-drum operate to keep both ends ofthe piston-drum and pistons tight When the engine is running in onedirection and those on the other side when it is running in the oppositedirection.

By reference to Fig. l it may be'understood f that in runningin thedirection of the arrow shown in that tgu re the orifices d c' belongingto the segments Gif G* will be in communicationwith the exhausting-portsof the inf terior of the cylinder during nearly the whole revolution,lnever being in communication with that partof the cylinder in whichthere is steam and only `during small portions of the revolution incommunication with that part in which the steam isexpanding between thepistons. j

The abutmentvC-is kept up to the pistondrum by means oftwojhollowexpanding packing-pieces PP, (see Figs. l and 4,) of a similar nature tothe,r hollow expanding segments, but of straight form',`saidpacking-pieces besaid orifices, which are on opposite sides of thebearing-surface of the abutment against which the piston works.Whichever of the said packing-pieces p or p is on the induction side ofthe abutment receives steam from the cylinder and the other onecommunicates through the cylinder with the exhaust-port l, and hence theabutment is only pressed to- .ward the cylinder on that side ot' thecenter of its bearing-surface which is subject tosteam-pressure on itsface. The area of each of the hollow expanding packing-pieces p p', itis obvious, must be somewhat greater than the area of that part of theface which is 'exposed to thepressure of steam.

We have throughout this specification described our invention withparticular reference to steam-engines; but it is also applicable toengines impelled by other fluids or gases, and also to rotary pumps.

Ve do not claim the introduction of steam between the cylinder-heads andmetallic packing-rings of rotary engines; but

Vhat we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. The hollow expanding metallic packing composed of rings or segments GG G 1 G* or strips P P', constructed substantially as described andapplied between the cylinderheads and their packing-rings behind theabutments or in any other part of a rotary engine, to operatesubstantially as herein set forth.

2. The arrangement of the orifices in the segments G G G* G* withrespect to the steam-spaces of the cylinder, substantially as hereindescribed, and for the'purpose set forth.

3. The arrangement of the two hollow expanding pieces p p for packing'the abutment, one having communication with the cylinder on one and theother on the other side of the abutment-bearing, substantially as hereinspecified.

4. The employment, in combination with three or more pistons and asteam-jacket surrounding the cylinder, of two eduction-ports n n', ittedwith separate valves N N', and a third eduction-port t under thereversingvalve, the latter port to continue the eduction after the portfn, or n is closed, substantially as herein specified.

JAMEs CLAYTON. ABRAHAM CAMPBELL.

Witnesses:

LEWIS A. TUCKER, J AMES LAIRD.

